Award-winning French photographer Laetitia Vançon has spent years capturing images at Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra monastery complex. She says the Lavra 'became a reflection of everything Ukraine has been going through'. Now the Unesco world heritage site has been damaged by Russian airstrikes. This selection of pictures brings together some of the scenes she has witnessed and, she says, serves as a reminder that 'when a place like this is hit, it is never only stones and domes that are damaged'.
Winter View of the Monastery
A winter view of the Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv shows the complex covered in snow. Thousands gather for the divine liturgy on the Eastern Orthodox feast day of the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Caves Lavra on 12 March.
Worship and Prayer
Worshippers attend a morning service at the Pechersk Lavra complex. People pray during an evening service, and a child lights a candle during an evening service. People gather outside the monastery, and morning service continues at Pechersk Lavra.
Leadership and War
Onufriy Berezovsky, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, is seen with priests. On the first day in February 2022 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Onufriy called the war 'a disaster', adding: 'The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper Baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no justification either from God or from people'.
Scenes of Faith
People gather for the divine liturgy of the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Caves Lavra. Snow covers the Pechersk Lavra monastery complex. Priests gather at Pechersk Lavra, and a winter view of the complex is shown. Worshippers at Pechersk Lavra include Primate Onufriy Berezovsky praying alongside priests. Priests and monks are present, and worshippers leave after a morning service.
Healing Through Art
Soldiers take part in painting therapy at the Pechersk Lavra monastery.
